Sunscape Sabor is a family-friendly resort located 12 miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on the beautiful island of Cozumel.  The resort is located about 20 minutes from the Cozumel Airport and is also just a fifteen minute taxi ride away from the ferry terminal.  Below are photos we took while using a day pass to visit the property from 7 am until 11 pm.  As always, photos first and then the review.  Back to Mexican Resorts.

Size:  This resort offers 218 guest rooms and suites.  It is a small to medium sized property.

Star Level:  Based on our one-day visit, we would rate this resort a 2.5 – 3 star only.  We derived this number as a result of our overall experience with staff organization as well as upkeep and maintenance of the property.  In our opinion, the property itself seemed somewhat run down, and the staff members, though very friendly, were somewhat disorganized.  We will share more of that later.

Category:  This is a fun, lively resort that caters to families and couples.  If you are looking for some adult time though, and prefer to not have a lot of children around, I would lean toward an adults-only property, as there may be a lot of children present.

Beach:  The stretch of beach in front of the Sunscape Sabor Cozumel is very pretty, however, it is also very rocky, so be sure to wear water shoes.  That said, it is an excellent beach for snorkeling, as you can begin snorkeling immediately off the shore.

Rooms:  There are 218 rooms and suites at this resort.  Unfortunately, we were unable to photograph any of them, but from observing a few, they seemed rather basic and functional.  If you’ve stayed at this resort, please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences as well as any photos, as we would love that.

Activities:  Sunscape Sabor is a very active resort, offering pools (though just a few small ones), water activities, a gym, and a spa.

Nightlife:  Unfortunately, we were only here for one night, and had a terrible experience at their El Patio Restaurant (see below).  That precluded us from being able to observe any nighttime entertainment, although we were told that things were going on.

Dining:  And now we get to the heart of the problems at this resort, at least for our family on the day of our visit.  Let’s start with breakfast.  We arrived very hungry and thirsty, as we had taken the ferry over from Playa del Carmen that morning.  Unfortunately, they were not able to seat us right away, and we ended up waiting over twenty minutes.  When we were finally seated, we noticed that there were a lot of empty tables, so we were a little puzzled as to why we had been asked to wait so long, especially since breakfast was a buffet.

Anyway, we dug right into our food, but had a hard time finding things we needed.  For example, there were no spoons for the cereal or yogurt, nor any clean glasses for drinks, and it was hard to find staff that was available to assist us.  When they were present, they were very kind, but we were a little surprised by the lack of organization.

The breakfast selection was decent, but it seemed a bit sparse to me.  There were made-to-order omelets cooked by an amazingly sweet chef, so we appreciated that, but otherwise, we were rather disappointed with breakfast.

Lunch was also buffet style and very disappointing.  There were few selections, and what was available was not cooked well.  Most of the selections were dried out or tasteless.  The pizza, just a few steps away, was decent, but again, nothing too special.

Dinner was our favorite meal, as the quality of the food at El Patio was excellent.  However, our whole dinner was quite an adventure.  We entered the restaurant at 8pm.  It took over 40 minutes to get seated, as they had a long waiting list.  The other available restaurants may have been a bit faster, but there was a wait for each one.  After having waited 40 minutes, it took an extremely long time to get someone to take our order.  Keep in mind, everyone was very pleasant, but for whatever reason, no one seemed to be very organized.

Once we finally had our orders taken, we waited over two hours to get our food.  This is no exaggeration.  I am not sure what was going on, but no one was getting served, with the exception of a pair of ladies who came in after us, got served and left, before we were served anything!  The wait staff was rarely present, and when they showed up, there were no apologies.  Again, though very friendly, they seemed oblivious to the scenario unfolding before them.  It was quite surprising.   The only exception to this was the waiter who kept our drink glasses full.  He seemed to be the only one who understood that something was just not right.

At one point, we were waiting so long, my 9 year old son fell asleep in his chair.  My husband did approach staff twice, to see what was going on, and they kept telling us the food would be ready soon, but unfortunately, that is not what happened, and it was too late to attempt dining at another restaurant.  Thankfully, all of our four children stayed patient, and we had a great time just conversing with them, and laughing at our predicament.  One couple, after scolding the staff,  stopped by our table on the way out and kindly encouraged my children, saying, “Wow…you guys have been really patient.  I don’t know how you’re doing it, but good job.”  That meant a lot to the kids, as we knew it was difficult for them, having to wait so long after a very full, busy day.  I think it was a boost to their spirits, and helped them continue to be patient.

Unfortunately, the couple behind us was not so patient.  As a result of their hunger and irritability, they began to argue fiercely behind us.  The whole restaurant was rather embarrassed for them, and we had to tell our kids to stop staring, but the truth was, it was hard not to watch or hear everything.  At one point, the wife or girlfriend pointed to our table and said, “Wow, these kids are acting more maturely than you are!  Grow up!”  It was sad to witness that, but also a good indication that meals were long overdue.

We finally got served our meals at 10:40pm.  We were almost too tired to eat, and so ready to head to bed.  That said, the food they finally did serve us was outstanding.  Was it worth the wait?  I would have to say no, but at least our patience was rewarded with excellent quality.  From start to finish, this dinner took three and one half hours.  Please, if anyone has had a different experience, we would love to hear about it, as we are hoping this was just an anomaly.

Ah, to top of our night, I must share one more thing.  Since we were on a day pass and had to leave around 11pm, our very late dinner further complicated matters.  When we arrived at the front desk to gather our suitcases and bags (they had been put in storage for our stay at another hotel on Cozumel), the staff member who had the key had LEFT!  Yes, he left with the one and only key.  We were so disheartened and exhausted at this point, we hardly knew what to do.  We were not leaving without our bags though!  So then proceeded yet another 45 minutes to an hour of staff trying to break into the storage room.  Thankfully, everyone was friendly and trying to be helpful, but we were just blown away by the common theme of disorganization we had experienced throughout the day.  We have never heard negative comments like these about Sunscape Sabor, but are now dying to know if this was indeed just a fluke or if other guests commonly experience what we did.

Overall:  Based on this visit alone, we would not highly recommend this resort, at least at this time.  We absolutely loved the snorkeling and the kindness of the staff, and the sunset views were spectacular, but everything else mentioned above make us highly reluctant to stay at Sunscape Sabor Cozumel any time soon.